Wednesday, April 8, 2009

the road not taken

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.You know how it is with an April day.When the sun is out and the wind is still,You're one month on in the middle of May.But if you so much as dare to speak,a cloud come over the sunlit arch,And wind comes off a frozen peak,And you're two months back in the middle of March.

Robert Frost(1874-1963) poet, educator

april is national poetry month, to honor the month, more poets and poems will be appearing on the mouse this month. I wonder why april was selected as the month to celebrate poets and poetry? is it the bursting forth of spring? or the mercurial nature of the the month?

while looking up the dates for robert frost, I ran across two interesting bits of trivia (well, I ran across a lot more, but two is all I'll do for you this morning). in the 1920s, frost taught at the university of michigan, the house he lived in while in ann arbor is now situated at the henry ford museum in detroit. I have been wanting to visit the henry ford museum for quite some time, the fact that the museum is home to the frost house, and also home to this house, has catapulted the museum to the top of my list for a destination this summer. (well, to be completely honest, the real reason detroit on my list as a sooner vs later destination, is to go to this exhibit). oh, back to the frost trivia - the other interesting bit is frost's epitaph, it reads, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." don't you just love it.

a virtual movie done by jim clark of frost reading his classic the road not taken. jim clark is a london videographer and sound recordist who has done a large number of these virtual movies, I think they are pretty far out. you can see more of jim's work on youtube.

Love the 'frosting' on your photograph! Actually, I'm not a lover of poetry which is strange because so many blogs I visit and enjoy feature quite a bit of it. . .perhaps I'll become a convert over time. Although Frost was always on the High School curriculum and the Road Less Travelled one I loved.

Huh! I didn't realize the Ford people had snagged the Dymaxion House. For some reason my brain kept telling me the Smithsonian had it. Unless it's Bucky's 3-wheeled Dymaxion car that the Smithsonian has. In any event, that makes a trip to Detroit worth the effort, Star Trek convention or not!

I believe those lead off lines are from "Two Tramps in Mud Time" aren't they? Frost was a very good reader; his voice had a great timbre, & he was able to bring a nice musicality to the words. Not all poets are good readers-- to my ear neither William Carlos Williams or Wallace Stevens really distinguished themselves when reading their work. Thanks for posting this!

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unless noted otherwise, all photos on the mouse are taken by me, kim yanoshik. you are welcome to use them if credit is given. if you seek to make a profit, you need to first ask permission to use the photo; then you are obliged to share that profit with yours truly, otherwise karma will catch up with you!